J.J. Watt takes his first steps (Video)

Houston Texans’ star J.J. Watt took a major step in his recovery from his most recent major injury.

On Tuesday, Houston Texans’ star defensive lineman J.J. Watt posted a video on Instagram of himself walking for the first time since suffering a tibial plateau fracture in his left leg against the Kansas City Chiefs back in week five of this season.

Andrew Joseph of USA TODAY Sports posted the video on Twitter.

For the first five years of his NFL career, Watt didn’t miss a single game. Then in 2016 he only played in three games and ended up on season-ending injured reserve with a back injury.

More from Toro Times

• Houston Texans Draft: Michael Mayer should be a no doubter at pick 12
• Houston Texans already telling fans the Davis Mills era is over
• Houston Texans have hand forced, waste no time in firing Lovie Smith
• Houston Texans: Pros and Cons of keeping Head Coach Lovie Smith
• There is just one way the Texans can lose the No. 1 pick

The hope was that Watt would rebound in 2017 and show the world that he can still dominate.  The problem is that he played well this season, but honestly, didn’t look like the player we grew accustomed to watching from 2011-2015.

Now Watt, at the age of 28, has to rehab a serious leg injury.

With Watt only getting older, he’ll be turning 29 in March, it’s safe to say that his best days are behind him.

When a player suffers two serious injuries in back to back seasons, NFL teams will sometimes ask that player to re-work his contract in order to take a pay cut and free up cap space.

I don’t think the Texans would ask Watt to take a pay cut this coming offseason, but if he isn’t himself or gets injured once again next year, Houston could decide to release him after the 2018 season, since it would only trigger $2 million in dead cap space.

No one knows what Watt’s future will bring, but right now, it looks like his NFL career is winding down.